Author's Notes:

heya guys!

I just want to thank all of you's who reviewed including my best friend, jenny.

Going to meet a really author tomorrow, buzzing i'll tell you all about it in my next authors note.

And i know i'm so sorry! please don't hate me for not updating i just had loads to do this past week and then i forgot my laptop when i went to stay at my dad's, so i am really sorry but never the less this chapters is extra long cos i felt so bad, it's about 8 pages on word so i hope you like it.

love you guys, keep reviewing

-Leigh x

BTW this chapter is inspired by Jenny Millen

thanks jenny for not giving up on me xx

Chapter 4 - Longing in Luxury

Katniss's POV-

' Be careful of your head sweetheart' says Haymitch with a drunken rasp, and he swings back another few gulps of the liquor in a small tin flask.
I sit down in the middle, swashed between Haymitch and Peeta.
I wrinkle my nose at the foul smell accruing off Haymitch.

The car starts to make it's short journey to the train station, Effie starts to jibber jabber on about how lovely all the buildings are. But after about 5 seconds I tune her out.

I sit there crushed and heartbroken, desperately wanting to curl up in a ball and cry… But NO! I will NOT do that, I have to hold the urge back, for prim. I cannot come off as a weakling to the other tributes plus there is bound to be plenty of camera crews trying to catch a glimpse of are reactions before we board the train.

I look over to Peeta, he has his back turned completely away from me staring out the window taking in some last minute memories of district 12.
A single tear making it's way down his cheek, one of many. His eyes bloodshot from an attempt to stop them.

I want to tell him everything is alright, that this isn't the last time he'll see district 12, I open my mouth but nothing comes out… how could I tell him this, we both no that no matter how strong we are or how hard we try it's pointless.

So I do the only thing I can do, not just for his comfort but for mine too. I grab his hands and give it a squeeze he turns to face me. His beautiful glassy blue eyes fixed on me, a layer of tears threatening to fall from the rims of his eyes. I put my free hand on his neck and lean in, my eyes flutter shut as our lips meet, his warmer than I imagined. We pull away just enough to lean our foreheads together. My hand moves down over his heart and I concentrate on it's pattern, I close my eyes and focus only on Peeta's heart. Neither of us pull away, not wanting to break the bubble that surrounds us.
'O for heaven's sake would you to stop that' shouts Haymitch as he mimics throughing up

I pull away as my cheeks grow hotter, they must be bright scarlet, burying my head in my hands. Peeta rubs my back in an attempt to comfort me. He just lets out a manly chuckle trying to hide his sudden blush.

' why are we making you uncomfortable, Haymitch?' Peeta says with a broad smirk stretched from ear to ear.

'NO! I just don't want to have to listen to you to snogging' Haymitch says with a slight blush.

I burst out laughing at such a comment before releasing the car coming to a halt.
The door on Peeta's side is opened by the gentlemen who was driving
' here we are' he says in a slightly shaky voice.
Peeta grabs my hand with a reassuring squeeze and leads me out the car.

The are is flashing from every direction, people holding cameras right in my face ' over here Katniss' shouts a man from the crowd, another right up in my face says ' big smile, that's it lovely'. I try to put on a convincing smile but can tell I'm failing… Luckily Haymitch is right to the point ' Jezz give them some room please' he leads us safely to the train.
Peeta never let's go of my hand throughout all of this. He get's on the train then helps me up, Haymitch is close to follow, slamming the door behind us.
' It gets worst every year' says Haymitch still trying to catch his breath.

Effie slides a small white card through a slot in the wall ' Effie Trinket' says a squeaky capitol voice from above, the wall starts to slide open to reveal a large car, also known as the dinning area. Effie proceeds to chat about the train as she waltzes into the large room, Haymitch ignores her completely and dashes over to the bar to be served ' back again Haymitch' says the bar tender with a slight chuckle. Peeta and I stand there just gazing in awe at the luxurious surroundings.

'Next stop the capitol' says a manly voice over the intercom. Peeta hurries over to the large window taking me with him. We stand there taking in our last images of district 12.

' Would you like to see your rooms?' squeaks Effie from behind us.
' Sure' says Peeta sucking back the tears.

We follow Effie to the near the end of the train

' here's your cards to enter and exits rooms' she hands one to Peeta and me and with a final smile

' we'll I'll let you two settle in' she turns on her heels and leaves the car.

Peeta's POV-

I slot the card into the wall ' Peeta Mellark.. Guest' squeaks the speaker
My hands begin to shack causing me to drop my card on the floor, I bend over to pick it up when I feel a cold hand on my back sending a shiver down my back.

I turn around and there she is looking gorgeous as ever. She wraps her arm tightly around my waist and digs her head into my chest, I stroke her shiny long black hair and try to calm her down. She cries silently into my chest her tears soaking through my shirt, she tries to talk but I can't make out a word saying because of her sobbing finally she starts to calm abit

' I..I…promised.. He…her…I promised ….prim that I.. I would try and …win for her' she says in between sobs

'Katniss I know you did, it'll be okay' I lean into her ear ' I promise'

We sit on the floor leaning against the wall in silence until she finally wipes her tears away and lifts her head so our eyes meet

'please stay with me tonight?' she whimpers still trying to catch her breathe

' okay beautiful' I tuck a stray piece of hair behind her hair and give her a gentle kiss on the tip of her nose before getting up.

We go into the room assigned to me.
With nothing to do, we lay on the bed in silence until her breathing becomes heavier and I know she's gone asleep, it isn't long before I follow.

'knock knock' Effie bashes on the door ' Peeta it's Effie, have you seen Katniss?' she wait's a couple of seconds before knocking again ' Peeta open up'.

I open my eyes and see that Katniss is still peacefully sleeping so I carefully get up and head for the door trying not to wake her.

'God Effie! Are you trying to wake up all the other districts as well?!' I say far too harshly than intended

'manners!' Effie squeals with anger

'sorry, it's just Katniss is sleeping and I'm tried' I apologise after releasing my tone.

' why is she sleeping in your room?' she mumbles something to herself
'don't matter just be down from dinner with Katniss in about 20 minutes' she smiles despite her anger and heads on back to the dinning car.

I close the door and lay back on the bed, I lie on my side and probe my head up on my left arm.

Katniss's POV-

I flutter my eyes open, taking in my surroundings.
Peeta's dazzling Blue eyes meet mine

' hey' I say in a sleepy tone
'hey gorgeous' he replies, as he leans in for a kiss ' Effie says we have to go for dinner now, would you like to freshen up first? There is some clothes in the wardrobe' he says lifting himself from the bed.

I sit up, stretching and rubbing my eyes as I head for the bathroom.
I splash water in my face and redo my hair into it's usual braid. When I get out of the bathroom Peeta is already dressed. I walk over to the wardrobe and pick out a simple forest green shirt and a pair of simple light brown trousers, I go back into the bathroom and quickly change. I'm just about to leave the bathroom when I remember my Mockingjay pin, I pin it to my green shirt and look in the mirror for final approval, because of the green background it looks as if it's flying through the tree tops. I remember the times when gale and I went out hunting in the woods.

'thinking of home?' Peeta stands leaning against the door frame.

'yeah, ready for dinner?' I say trying to change the subject

' yeah, better start heading down before Effie has a fit' we both laugh as we make our way to the dining room.

' Oh look who finally decided to show up, the two lovebirds from district 12' shouts Haymitch from across the room ' wait nope that's not it either better work on that, lovers… nope…romantics…nope not that… ahh well I'll work on it later' he begins to mumble to himself

'Come take a seat' says Effie gesturing us to pick any seat before heading back to filing her nails on the sofa.

Peeta and I choose to sit next to each other across the table from Effie and Haymitch. In front of us is a glass of orange juice and a mug of a hot brown liquid I have never seen before. In the centre of the table is a big basket of bread and a plate with little packets of different spreads.

A women with short red hair and a very pale face serves me my first dish which is a small bowl filled with an orangey/red and quite thick soup. I take a piece of rich white bread and begin to dip it into the soup while everyone around me makes small talk, I glance up from my soup to Peeta, who has taken the bread and dipped it into the brown liquidly drink. A small smirk comes to my face.

'it's hot chocolate, dear' says Effie patting her mouth with the napkin

I just nod and begin to dig in…

As each course comes and go's Effie has to keep reminding us that there is still more to come. Up until a few moments ago I hadn't paid any attention to the mindless jibber jabber going on, until Effie send the word manners '…manners, Unlike the pair last year! They had no manners at all, they scoffed all there food down like their was no tomorrow and they even used there fingers…ergh disgusting' she wrinkles her nose up. I remember last year's tributes were both very skinny and probably hadn't seen so much food in there life, I remember how they both came from the seam. A frown crosses upon my mouth as I think about prim and her well being. I feel a pit of anger rising up inside ,Effie's comment rubbed me up the wrong way, so out of rage I decided to continue eating the meal with my hands. This made Peeta smirk and Effie hiss at me, but I didn't care.

Nothing much else really caught my attention and by the end of the meal I was truly stuffed for the first time in my whole life.

We sit there for a while drinking some kind of non alcoholic cocktail, after a while I begin to regret eating so much rich food, I feel my food starting to try and make it's way back up the way it came, I look over to Peeta who must be having the same feeling because his face has gone a pale green, He turns to look at me and just then like an unspoken agreement we both run to the bathroom and throw up helplessly.

' the recaps are about to start, do you two think you can hold down your food for another hour?' Effie appearing in the doorway pinching her nose tightly.

' just give us a minute, Effie' says Peeta bringing his head from the toilet just long enough to get the words out before beginning to gag again.

Effie leaves just as I'm starting to recover, I walk over to where Peeta in knelt at the toilet side and gently rub his back trying to comfort him. He soon empties his stomach completely and we brush our teeth and make our way to the living room.

Hands linked tightly we join Haymitch on the sofa. Effie sits on a recliner just off to our right. We all it there quietly, eyes glued to the telly not wanting to move or blink encase we miss something.

' Hello People of Panem, and Happy 74th Hunger Games' Booms Cesar Flickerman's voice from inside the TV screen. He has powdery dark blue hair and eyebrows this year, a cheesy grin and as always his midnight blue starry suit. 'haven't We got a show for you tonight, this is the first showing of this year's tribute' he lets out a hearty chuckle. 'here they are' .

I squeeze Peeta hand tighter

The screen flicks to the emblem of district one then shows the reaping.
' Glimmer' yells the lady on the stage and out steps a girl not much older than me, shimmering golden locks, piercing sea green eyes. You could tell she was a fighter. 'Marvel' the women shouts again

Then the emblem for district two comes onto the screen and the once again the women on the stage shouts out the names 'clove' you can see evil in this one's eyes, and I make a mental note to say clear of her. 'Malcolm' shouts the lady again but before the camera can even get a great shot of the tiny boy a deep manly voice booms out over the gasps ' I volunteer' says a huge hulk of a boy from a few rows forward. Peeta's hand starts to sweat and shake quiet a bit from the sight of him.

Other than them I don't really take much notice of the others only a few stick out a girl from five with long ginger hair, her face resembles a fox. A twelve year old from eleven, named Rue. When she walks onto the stage my heart jumps. Other than her brown skin, uncontrollable curly brown hair and muddy brown eyes that show fear that I have always seen in prey's eyes before I end their life, She reminds me so much of Prim. I'm shocked when they ask for volunteers and all there is to be heard is a cold silence through out the air. Then the women pulls out a slip from the boys bowl and reads it aloud clearly 'Thresh' . I start to shiver when I see the dark skinned boy step out from the crowd, those eyes that would scare away a bear. Like the boy from two thresh is well prepared for any combat.

They then show mine and Peeta's reaping, me dashing forward to volunteer for Prim. Peeta's name beginning called, me and him wrapping our arms around one another in a loving embrace. The screen goes black and there is a long silent pause.

'WOW! You two looked amazing!' squeals Effie, hurting my eardrums.

'Oh please be quiet Effie you are starting to give me a headache!' moans Haymitch ' well I'm off to bed!' he says swiftly leaving the room.

'oh me too, it's been such a long day. You two better head off to bed too, tomorrow is a big big day' yawns Effie

She switches off the telly and heads off to bed. Peeta and I sit there in silence for what feels like a life time. We don't say anything just sit there holding one another trying to figure out what to do when we are in the arena.

'we better head off to bed, don't want to be too tiered tomorrow' says Peeta finally.

We both get up from the sofa and head down the corridor to our room's, we are just about to go are separate ways when I speak up

' please can I stay with you tonight, I don't want to wake up from the nightmares alone' I plead

Peeta just nods and lays a light kiss on my lips. We go straight into the room, into are sleeping gear and into the bed. We hold each other trying to keep warm, Peeta's breathing soon slows, he's asleep.

I think about how Prim and my mother are doing, I think about gale going to bed. And before I know I've drifted off into a deep sleep

Please REVIEW i always love to hear from you guys- Leigh xx